Slitting and scoring apparatus

ABSTRACT

Slitting and scoring apparatus capable of instant change of slitting width and scoring position on a material web along its running direction without stopping or reducing the speed of material web which is fed continuously. This apparatus is used particularly in the corrugated board industry.

United States Patent [191 Tokuno Masateru Tokuno, Hyogo, Japan [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 21, 1973 Japan 48-107279 [52] U.S. Cl 93/58.2 R; 83/9; 83/11; 83/106; 83/302 [51] Int. Cl 826d 3/08; B26d 11/00 [58] Field of Search 83/302, 408, 9, 11, 12, 83/106; 93/1 G, 58.2 R

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,959,424 5/1934 Hawkins 93/1 G 1 5| J1?! I i?! an 1524 may i 51 May 13,1975

3,307,441 3/1967 Saunders et al. 83/302 3,489,043 1/1970 Dent 83/302 X 3,831,502 8/1974 Tokuno 83/302 X Primary Examiner-Frank T. Yost Attorney, Agent, or F irmStewart and Kolasch, Ltd.

[57] ABSTRACT Slitting and scoring apparatus capable of instant change of slitting width and scoring position on a material web along its running direction without stopping or reducing the speed of material web which is fed continuously. This apparatus is used particularly in the corrugated board industry.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENIED RAY I 3I975 SHEET 2 OF 4 PATENIED HAY 1 3 i975 SHEET l; BF 4 1 SLITTING AND SCORING APPARATUS The present invention relates to slitting and scoring apparatus for slitting and scoring a web of material such as corrugated board, paper-board for making box blank or other similar material fed continuously, along the running direction thereof, and used particularly in the corrugated board industry.

With conventional slitting and scoring apparatus, when it was required to change the slitting and the scoring position on the web, the feed of the upstream portion of the web was stopped for a while after cutting off the web transversely to its running direction at the upstream of slitter-scorer, and the set position of the slitting blades and the scoring blades of the slitter-scorer was changed, or when the slitter-scorer was provided with more than two slitting and scoring units and in case when each of them can be taken off and put into the path of travel of the web (e.g., so-called triplex slitter-scorer), the upstream portion of the web is slowed down while the downstream portion of the web continues at its normal pace, after cutting off the web transversely at the upstream of the slitter-scorer. Thus, a gap is formed between the upstream portion and the downstream portion of the web, and by making use of this gap, another slitting and scoring unit having been preset was brought in a position permitting the web to be slitted and scored.

However, to stopping the feed of the web for a while or to slowing down the feeding speed of upstream portion of the web causes to curtail the manufacturing efficiency of the products.

An object of the present invention is to provide slitting and scoring apparatus capable to change instantly the slitting width and the scoring position as required on the web along its running direction without stopping the supply of the web which is fed continuously and also without reducing the feed speed of the web.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of first embodiment of slitting and scoring apparatus according to the present invention and side views of double-facer and double cutoff machine.

FIG. 2 is a view of rotary shear looked from the downstream of the web.

FIG. 3 is a view of upper slitter-scorer of the first embodiment looked from the upstream of the web and also shows a truck loaded with the upper slitter-scorer.

FIG. 4 is a plan of rear guide plate.

FIG. 5 shows a side view of second embodiment of slitting and scoring apparatus according to the present invention, and side views of double-facer and double cut-off machine.

FIG. 6 is a view of the upper slitter-scorer of the second embodiment looked from the upstream of the web.

Hereunder, slitting and scoring apparatus according to the present invention will be explained, taking an example by an apparatus used in the corrugated board industry.

The slitting and scoring apparatus is disposed between a double facer 10 in the corrugated board manu facturing machine, from which finished web W of the corrugated board is delivered and a double cut-off machine 9 provided with two sets of cut-off knives 90 to cut off transversely the web W of corrugated board having been slitted and scored into blanks of selected lengths, and comprises a rotary shear 1, a front guide plate 2, an upper guide plate 3, a lower guide plate 4, an upper slitter-scorer 5, a lower slitter-scorer 50, and a rear guide plate 7. The rotary shear 1, as seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, isprovided with a pair of frames 11, 11 standing on both sides of the path of travel of the web W so as to hold the same therebetween. An upper roll 12 is disposed between the frames 11 and 11, and also above the path of travel of the web across the running direction thereof. The shaft 121 of the upper roll 12 is projected outside the frames 11, 11 through the openings 111, 111 thereof and born rotatably on the front end portions 131, 131 of arms 13, 13, The rear end portions 132, 132 of the arms 13, 13 are pivoted on the outer surfaces of the frames 11, 11 and the upper roll 12 is able to move upward and downward by dint of the pivotal movement of the arms 13, 13, On the peripheral surface of the upper roll 12 is fixed cut off blade 122 extending in a form of gently sloping spiral from one end of the roll toward the other end thereof. The cutoff blade may be of straight type, but to reduce the resistance caused by cut-off operation, it is more preferable that the cut-off blade is of a spiral type as shown in the embodiment. A lower roll 14 is disposed under the path of travel of the web W and below the upper roll 12 in parallel with the upper roll 12 and the shaft 141 thereof is born rotatably in the frames 11, 11. The peripheral surface of the lower roll 14 is covered with Neoprane rubber. On one side of the shaft 121 of the upper roll 12 projected outside the arm 13 is secured a gear 151. A gear 152 meshing with the gear 151 is mounted rotatably on the pivotal point of the arm 13 and a gear 153 meshing with said gear 152 is mounted rotatably on the outer surface of the frame 11, and a gear 154 meshing with the gear 153 is mounted on one side of the shaft 141 of the lower roll 14 is projecting outside the frame 11. The gears 151, 152, 153 and 154 are all of the same pitch circle. The gear I53 is driven by an electric motor 17 through a gearing 16 or a chain transmission (not shown) and a reduction gear 161, and the upper roll 12 is caused to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 1 and the low roll 14 to rotate clockwise in FIG. 1, at the same time, by the rotation of the gear 153. To enable to cut off smoothly the web W, the electric motor 17 can be adjusted to rotate the upper roll 12 and the lower roll 14 so that the peripheral speed on the surfaces thereof is substantially the same as the feed speed of the web W. And, it is a matter of course that the gear 153 may be driven with a line shaft (not shown) as well known to those skilled in the art, generally used to drive unitedly the corrugated board manufacturing machine, instead of using the electric motor 17. The arms 13, 13 mentioned above are connected to the piston rods 191, 19l of air cylinders 19, 19 are pivoted on the frames 11, 11. When the piston rods 191, 191 are caused project, the upper roll 12 may be lowered to a position where the cut-off blade 122 thereof can cut into the Neoprane rubber covering the peripheral surface of the lower roll 14, and when the piston rods 191, 191 are caused to withdraw, the upper roll 12 is moved upward so as to permit the web W to pass freely.

As apparent from FIG. 1, the front guide plate 2 extends in the running direction of the web W of material and is disposed immediately at the rear of the rotary shear 1. The front end 21 of the front guide plate 2 is secured to the upper surface of the shaft 23, disposed close to the outlet of the rotary shear 1 transversely to the path of travel of the web W of material, and born rotatably in the frames 11, 11 of the rotary shear 1. On the end of the shaft 23 is secured one end of the arm 24, and to the other end of the arm 24 is connected the piston rod 251 of the air cylinder 25, pivotably mounted on the frame 11 of the rotary shear l. The rear end 22 of the front guide plate 2 is to be moved upward or downward at a single stroke by the air cylinder 25. When the piston rod 251 is caused to withdraw, the guide plate 2 is substantially at a horizontal level, the rear end 22 thereof being situated in its first position P. When the piston rod 251 is caused to project, the rear end 22 of the guide plate 2 is moved upward and reaches to its second position Q higher than the first position P.

As seen from FIG. 1, the upper guide plate 3 extends in the running direction of the web W of material, the front end 31 thereof is faced to a position R situated slightly below the second position Q and above the first position P to be able to receive the web W from the front guide plate 2 when the rear end 22 is situated in the second position Q and guided rearward. In a position between the front end 31 and the rear end 32 of the upper guide plate 3 is provided opening 33 defined by cutting out the upper guide plate 3 transversely thereto with a predetermined width.

As seen from FIG. 1, the lower guide plate 4 extends in the running direction of the web W of material and is placed (laid) below the upper guide plate 3. The front end 41 of the lower guide plate 4 is projected to a position S slightly below the first position P and the rear end 42 of the lower guide plate 4 is projected to below the rear end 32 of the upper guide plate to be able to receive the web W from the front guide plate 2 when the rear end 22 is situated in the first position P and guided rearward. In a position between the front end 41 and the rear end 42 of the lower guide plate 4, is provided an opening 43 defined by cutting out the lower guide plate 4 transversely thereto with a predetermined width. The opening 43 is shifted longitudinally from right under the opening 33.

As understood from FIGS. 1 and 3, the upper slitterscorer is provided with a pair of frames 51, 51 standing on the outsides of the opening 33 of the upper guide plate 3 so as to hold the opening therebetween. A slitting and scoring unit 52 is secured onto the pair of frames 51, 51 to be movable upward and downward, and at the rear of this unit 52 is secured another slitting and scoring unit 52 of the same construction onto the pair of frames 51, 51 to be movable upward and downward. Each of said units 52 is provided with a pair of thick plates 521, 521 attached onto the pair of frames 51, 51 to be movable detects and downward, and rolls 522 and 523 born rotatably in the plates 521, 521. The roll 522 is disposed transversely to the running direction of the web W of material and has circular slitting blades 5221 and circular male scoring blades 5222. The roll 523 is disposed below the roll 522, and has circular slitting blade 5231 cooperating with the slitting blades 5221 and circular female scoring blades 5232 cooperating with the male scoring blades 5222. The shafts 522a and 523a of the rolls 522 and 523 are projected to outside the plate 521, and reach to an opening 511 of the frame 51. In the opening 511, a gear 524 is secured on the shaft 522a and a gear 525 meshing with the gear 524 and having the same pitch circle as the gear 524 is secured on the shaft 523a. Each unit 52 is moved upward and downward by oil cylinders or air cylinders 526, 526 secured onto the frames 51, 51. When the piston rods 5261, 5261 of the cylinders 526, 526 are withdrawn, the unit 52 is moved downward and enters the opening 33 of the upper guide plate 3 to be able to slit and score the web W, and when the piston rods 5261, 5261 are projected, the unit 52 is moved upward and gets out of the opening. When the unit 52 enters the opening 33 of the upper guide plate 3, the gear 525 secured on the shaft 5230 of the roll 523 is driven by a direct current electric motor 527 through a gear transmission 528, and as the result thereof, the rolls 522 and 523 are rotated. In FIG. 1, the roll 522 is rotated counterclockwise and the roll 523 clockwise, with a speed greater than the feed speed of the web W.

As seen from FIG. 1, the lower slitter-scorer 50 is substantially of the same construction as the upper slitter scorer 5. Each machine element in the lower slitterscorer 50 similar to each machine element in the upper slitter-scorer 5 is indicated with a similar reference numeral as indicating the equivalent machine element in the upper slitter-scorer 5 in the drawing. The frame 51, 51 of the lower slitter-scorer 50 are erected on the outsides of the opening 43 of the lower guide plate 4 so as to hold the opening therebetween. And, the slitting and scoring unit 52 are attached on the frames 51, 51 to be movable upward and downward, and at the rear of the unit 51 is attached the other unit 52 on the frames 51, 51 to be movable upward and downward. Each of the units 52 of the lower slitter-scorer 50 is to be moved upward and downward by the air cylinders or oil cylinders 526, 526 attached to the frames 51, 51. When the piston rods 5261, 5261 of the cylinders 526, 526 are caused to withdraw, the unit 52 is moved upward and enters the opening 43 of the lower guide plate 4 to be able to slit and score the web W, and when the piston rods 5261, 5261 are caused to project, the unit 52 is moved downward and gets out of the opening 43. When the unit 52 of the lower slitter-scorer is caused to enter the opening 43, the gear 524 secured on the shaft 522a of the roll 522 (not shown) is driven by a direct current electric motor 527 attached to the frame 52 through the gear transmission 528, and as the result thereof, the rolls 522 and 523 (not shown) are rotated.

The upper slitter-scorer 5 and the lower slitter-scorer 50 are carried on the truck 6. On the side of the truck 6 is provided projectedly a screw shaft 61, having a female screw 62 screwed thereon, and this female screw 62 is born rotatably in a frame 63 attached on the foundation B. By turning the female screw 62 by the electric motor 65 through the chain transmission 64, the shaft 61, the truck 6 and the slitter-scorers 5 and 51) can be moved transversely to the running direction of the web W, and thereby the slitter-scorers 5 and 50 are allowed to follow the zigzag motion of the web W.

As apparent from FIGS 1 and 4, the rear guide plate 7 comprises several stripes of guide plates 71 arranged in parallel with the running direction of the web W. Each of the stripes of the guide plates 71 is faced close to the front end 711 thereof to the rear end 42 of the lower guide plate 4 through supplementary guide plate to be able to receive from the upper guide plate 3 or the lower guide plate 4 each web W of material having been slitted and scored and to guide it rearward. It is a matter of course that the front ends 711 of the strips of guide plates 71 may be faced directly to the rear end 42 of the lower guide plate 4 on omitting the supplementary guide plate 70. The front ends 711 are pivoted on the stationary frame 72 so that the rear ends 712 may be moved upward and downward. Onto the lower side of each of the strips of the guide plates 71 is connected the piston rod 731 of the air cylinder 73 pivoted on the frame 72, and the rear ends 712 of the guide plates 71 are caused to face to either the upper inlet 91 or the lower inlet 92 of the double cut-off machine 9 by the actuation of the air cylinder 73.

And then, amother embodiment of the slitting and scoring apparatus according to the present invention will be explained referring to FIGS. 5 and 6.

This slitting and scoring apparatus also comprises a rotary shear 1, a front guide plate 2, an upper guide plate 30, a lower guide plate 40, an upper slitter-scorer 8, a lower slitter-scorer 80 and a rear guide plate 2 and the rear guide plate 7 are of the same as the rotary shear 1, the front guide plate 2 and the rear guide plate 7 shown in the embodiment mentioned above. The upper guide plate 30 and the lower guide plate 40 are also substantially of the same constraction as the upper guide plate 3 and the lower guide plate 4 shown in the embodiment mentioned above, but the size of the openings 301 and 401 of the guide plates 30 and 40 differs from that of the openings 33, 42 of the guide plates 3 and 4.

The upper slitter-scorer 8 is provided with a pair of rotary frames 81, 81 disposed upstandingly so as to hold the opening 301 of the upper guide plate 30 therebetween. The rotary frames 81, 81 are secured to a shaft 82 disposed transversely above the upper guide plate 30 to the upper guide plate 30, and the shaft 82 is born rotatably in a pair of frames 83, 83 erected at the outsides of the rotary frames 81, 81. On the rotary frames 81, 81 are attached radially three slitting and scoring units 84, 84, 84. Each of the three units'is provided with a roll 841 having slitting blades 8411 and scoring blades 8412, and a roll 842 having slitting blades 8421 and scoring blades 8422 being cooperative with the slitting blades 8411 and the scoring blades 8412. The shafts 841a and 842a of the rolls 841 and 842 of each unit 84 are projected outside the rotary frame 81, and on the shaft 841a is fixed a gear 843 and on the shaft 842a is fixed a gear 844 meshing with the gear 843 and having the same pitch circle as the gear 843. On the shaft 82 of the rotary frames 81, 81 is fixed a worm wheel 851. When the worm wheel 851 is driven by an electric motor 852 through a worm 853, the rotary frames 81, 81 are rotated, and the slitting and scoring unit 84 is caused to enter the opening 301 of the upper guide plate 30 to be able to slit and score the web W, or caused to get out of the opening 301. When the unit 84 enters the opening 301 of the upper guide plate 30, an electric motor 861 can rotate a gear 843 secured on a shaft 841a of a roll 841 through a gear 862 fixed on the shaft of the electric motor 861. By the rotation of the gear 843, the roll 841 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 5 and a roll 842 is rotated counter-clockwise in FIG. 5. The shaft 82 rotatably carrying the rotary frames 81, 81 is axially slidably born in the frames 83, 83. As seen from FIG. 6, an end portion of the shaft 82 is projected outside the frame 83 and is connected to a screw 872 by means of a coupling 871. On the screw 872 is screwed a female screw 873, which is born rotatably in a stationary frame 874. By rotating the female screw 873 by an electric motor 875 through a suitable transmission gear 874 such as chain transmission, the screw 872, the rotary frames 81, 81, and the unit 84 may be moved transversely to the running direction of the web W, and thereby the unit 84 is allowed to follow the zigzag movement of the web W. On the rotary frames 81, 81 are secured the supplementary guide plates 88, 88 disposed in front and in the rear of each unit 84, a and the supplementary guide plates 88, 88 in front and in the rear of the unit when having entered the opening 301 of the upper guide plate 30 are to be kept on a level with the upper guide plate 30. The lower slitter-scorer is substantially of the same construction as the upper slitter-scorer 8. Each of the machine elements of the lower slitter-scorer 80 which is the same as each of those of the upper slitter-scorer 8 is indicated with the same reference numeral as indicating the equivalent machine element in the upper slitterscorer 8 in the drawing. The rotary frames 81, 81 of the lower slitter-scorer 80 hold the opening 401 of the lower guide plate 40 therebetween, and the shaft 82 bearing the rotary frames 81, 81 is disposed transversely to and below the lower guide plate 40. When the rotary frames 81, 81 are rotated by an electric motor 852, the slitting and scoring unit 84 is caused to enter the opening 401 of the lower guide plate 40 to be able to slit and score the web W or caused to get out of the opening 401. When the unit 84 enters the opening 401, an electric motor 861 is to drive the unit 84. Although not shown in the drawing a means for enabling the unit 84 to follow the zigzag movement of the web W is provided also in the lower slitter-scorer 80 and the means is the same as that in the upper slitterscorer 8.

The slitting and scoring units 52 and 84 in the two embodiments mentioned above may be made to be driven by means of a well known line shaft (not shown) usable for driving unitedly the corrugated board manufacturing machine, not by the electric motors 527 and 852. And, the slitting and scoring unit 52 or 84 mentioned above comprises two rolls each of which is provided with slitting blades and scoring blades together, but it may be a unit having four rolls with blades well known to those skilled in the art, that is, a unit comprising two rolls equipped with slitting blades and two rolls equipped with scoring blades (not shown). Furthermore, though not shown in the drawing, it is desirable that the slitting and scoring units 52 and 84 have a suitable well known means capable of parting the two rolls equipped with blades from each other so as to be able to move easily the slitting blades or the scoring blades when the units are to be preset.

An electric means is provided to make the rotary shear 1 and the front guide plate 2 cooperate. As seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, on the shaft 121 of the upper roll 12 of the rotary shear 1 is fixed an iron piece F, and on the arm 13 bearing the upper roll 12 are fixed two sensers APSl and APS2 of proximity switch so as to be able to close to or part from the iron piece by the rotation of the upper roll 12. One senser APSI is to control an electromagnetic valve (not shown) connected to the air cylinders 19, 19 for moving the arms 13, 13 supporting the upper roll 12, and when the senser APSl detecte the iron piece F, then the piston rods 191, 191 of the air cylinders 19, 19 are caused to project thereby the arms 13, 13 are moved downward, enabling the cutoff blade 122 of the upper roll 12 to cut off the web W.

The other senser APS2 is to control said electromagnetic valve connected to the air cylinders 19, 19 and an electromagnetic valve (not shown) connected to an air cylinder 25 for moving the front guide plate 2, and when the senser APS2 detects the iron piece F, then the piston rods 191, 191 of the air cylinders 19, 19 are caused to withdraw, and while the upper roll 12 is moved upward the piston rod 251 of the air cylinder 25 is caused to project, thereby the rear end 22 of the front guide plate 2 is moved up the position Q. The senser APS2, however, is attached on the arm 13 to detect the iron piece F immediately after the web W has been cut off, so that the web W is cut off only once. The rear end 22 of the front guide plate 2 having been moved once up to the position Q is caused to move downward to the position P after elapse of the set time by a suitable timer circuit (not shown). It should be noticed that an electric circuit (not shown) is provided for controlling the front guide plate 2 not to be moved even if the senser APS2 detects the iron piece F in case the web W has passed through the upper guide plate 3 or 30 before the web W is cut off by the rotary shear 1, in other words, in case the web W has passed the upper slitterscorer 5 or 8.

And now, the operation for varying the width to be slitted and position to be scored, of the web W using the slitter-scorer according to the present invention will be described.

Under a normal condition, the upper and lower rolls 12 and 14 of the rotary shear 1 are stationary, the upper roll 12 is raised, and the rear end 22 of the front guide plate is kept in the first position P. And, the web W sent out of the double facer passes through the upper slitter-scorer 5 or 8 set in the upper guide plate 3 or 30, or the lower slitter-scorer 50 or 80 set in the lower guide plate 4 or 40, after having passed through between the upper and lower rolls 12 and 14 of the rotary shear 1, and after having been alitted and scored, reaches to the double cut-off machine 9 through the rear guide plate 7.

Now, the operation for changing the width to be slitted and the position to be scored, of the web W when using the upper slitter-scorer 5 or 8, is carried out as follows.

Namely, the slitting and scoring unit 52 or 84 of the lower slitter-scorer 50 or 80 preset to have the web W slitted into a desirable width and scored at a desirable position is caused to enter in the opening 43 or 401 of the lower guide plate 4 or 40, and while the unit 52 or 84 is driven thereby, the upper and lower rolls l2 and 14 of the rotary shear 1 are caused to drive as well. And thereafter, when the sensers APSl and APS2 of the proximity switch 4 provided in the rotary shear l are made sensible, as the senser APSl detects at the start the iron piece F, the upper roll 12 is caused to move downward and cuts off the web W at a single stroke. And, immediately after the cut-off action, as the senser APS2 can detect the iron piece F, the upper roll 12 is caused to move upward. The front guide plate 2 is held stationary as mentioned above. After the rotary shear l cuts off the web W, while the downstream portion of the web W is led to the slitter-scorer 5 or 8 as it is, the upstream portion of the web W is transferred automatically from the front guide plate 2 onto the lower guide plate 4 or 40, and guided to the lower slitter-scorer 50 or 80 and then slitted into and scored at the predetermined width and position, respectively. Similarly, the

operation for changing the width to be slitted and the position to be scored, of the web W when using the lower slitter-scorer 50 or is carried out as follows.

Namely, the slitting and scoring unit 52 or 84 of the upper slitter-scorer 5 or 8 preset to have the web W slitted into a required width and scored at a required position is caused to enter in the opening 33 or 301 of the upper guide plate 3 or 30, and while the unit 52 or 84 is driven thereby, the upper and lower rolls 12 and 14 of the rotary shear l are caused to drive as well. And thereafter, when the sensers APSl and APS2 of the proximity switch provided on the rotary shear 1 are made sensible, then the senser APSl at the start detects the iron piece F, so that the upper roll is caused to move downward and cuts off the web W at a single stroke. lmmediately after the cut-off action, the senser APS2 can detect the iron piece F, so that while the upper roll is moved upward, the rear end 22 of the front guide plate 2 is caused to move up from the position P to the position Q. After the rotary shear 1 cuts off the web W, while the downstream portion of the web W is led as it is to the lower slitter-scorer 50 or 80 passing through between the front guide plate 2 and the upper guide plate 3 or 30, the upstream portion of the web W is transferred from the front guide plate 2 onto the upper guide plate 3 or 30 and guided to the upper slitter-scorer 5 or 8, and slitted into and scored at another predetermined width and position, respectively. Before changing the width to be slitted and the position to be scored, of the web W of material, the web W discharged from the slitter-scorer is transferred from the upper guide plate 3 or 30, or the lower guide plate 4 or 40 onto the rear guide plate 7 and being guided to the cut-off machine 9. In order to obtain blanks of different lengths from each web W, the rear ends 712 of the several strips of guide-plates of the rear guide plate 7 are kept to face close to the upper inlet 91 of the machine 9, and the rear ends 712 of the other strips of guide plates 71 are kept to face close to the lower inlet 92 of the machine 9. After changing the width to be slitted and the position to be scored, of the web W of material, the webs W discharged from the slitter-scorer are, before the webs W reach to the cut-off machine 9 to be led to either the upper inlet 91 or the lower inlet 92 of the cut-off machine 9 by moving the rear ends 712 of the several strips of guide plates 71 of the rear guide plate 7 from the upper inlet 91 of the cut-off machine 9 to the lower inlet 92 thereof, or from the lower inlet 92 to the upper inlet 91.

What I claim is:

1. Slitting and scoring apparatus for slitting and scoring a web of material fed continuously in its running direction, comprising; a rotary shear capable of cutting off, at a stroke, the web transversely; a front guide plate for receiving the web at the outlet of the rotary shear and guiding the web rearward, front end of the front guide plate being faced close to the outlet of the rotary shear and rear end of the front guide plate being made to be raised and lowered at a stroke between its first position and its second position situated higher than the first position; an upper guide plate for receiving the web from the front guide plate with its rear end situated in said second position and guiding the web rearward, the front end of the upper guide plate is projected to said second position or between said first position and said second position, and the upper guide plate portion between the both ends thereof being provided with an opening; a lower guide plate for receiving the web from the front guide plate with its rear end situated in said first position and guiding the web rearward, said lower guide plate being placed below the upper guide plate, and the front end of the lower guide plate being projected towards said first position or a position below it, and the lower guide plate being provided with an opening; an upper slitter-scorer provided with more than two slitting and scoring units, each of the slitting and scoring units being able to enter the opening of the upper guide plate to slit and score the web guided into it by the upper guide plate or to get out thereof; a lower slitter-scorer provided with more than two slitting and scoring units, each of which being able to enter the opening of the lower guide plate to slit and score the web guided into it by the lower guide plate and to get out thereof; and a rear guide plate for receiving the slitted and scored web from the upper guide plate or the lower guide plate and guiding it rearward, front end of the rear guide plate being projected towards the rear end of the lower guide plate or a position below it.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, characterized by that each of the slitting and scoring units of the upper slitter-scorer is secured movably upward and downward to a pair of frames standing at the outsides of the opening of the upper guide plate holding the opening therebetween, and is capable of getting out of the opening of the upper guide plate when moving upward and entering the opening of the upper guide plate to slit and score the web of material when moving downward, while each of the slitting and scoring units of the lower slitter-scorer is secured movably upward and downward to a pair of frames standing at the outsides of the opening of the lower guide plate holding the opening therebetween, and is capable of entering the opening of therebetween, each of the slitting and scoring units being able to enter the opening of the upper guide plate to slit and score the web of material or get out of the opening by the rotation of the pair of rotary frames, while more than two slitting and scoring units of the lower slitter-scorer are attached radially to a pair of rotary frames supported rotatably at the outsides of the opening of the lower guide plate holding the opening therebetween, each of the slitting and scoring unit being able to enter the opening of the lower guide plate to slit and score the web of material or get out of the opening, by the rotation of the pair of rotary frames.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, comprising an upper roll equipped with cutting blades on the peripheral surface thereof and disposed transversely to the running direction of the web of material; a lower roll provided with a member capable of receiving the thrust (cut-in) of the cutting blades of the upper roll on the peripheral surface thereof, and disposed in parallel with and below the upper roll with a space through which the web of material is able to pass; a means for rotating the upper roll and the lower roll oppositely to each other to cut off the web of material transversely to the running direction thereof at a single stroke by making the cutting blades of the upper roll cut into said member of the lower roll with the web of material held therebetween; and a means for moving upward and downward at least either one of the upper roll and the lower roll.

5. Apparatus as difined in claim 1, characterized by that the rear guide plate comprises more than two strips of guide plates arranged in parallel with the running direction of the web of material, and a means for moving upward or downward the rear end of each of the strips of the guide plates is provided.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, characterized by that there is provided with a means for moving the slitting and scoring units of the upper slitter-scorer and the slitting and scoring units of the lower slitter-scorer transversely to the running direction of the web of material. 

1. Slitting and scoring apparatus for slitting and scoring a web of material fed continuously in its running direction, comprising; a rotary shear capable of cutting off, at a stroke, the web transversely; a front guide plate for receiving the web at the outlet of the rotary shear and guiding the web rearward, front end of the front guide plate being faced close to the outlet of the rotary shear and rear end of the front guide plate being made to be raised and lowered at a stroke between its first position and its second position situated higher than the first position; an upper guide plate for receiving the web from the front guide plate with its rear end situated in said second position and guiding the web rearward, the front end of the upper guide plate is projected to said second position or between said first position and said second position, and the upper guide plate portion between the both ends thereof being provided with an opening; a lower guide plate for receiving the web from the front guide plate with its rear end situated in said first position and guiding the web rearward, said lower guide plate being placed below the upper guide plate, and the front end of the lower guide plate being projected towards said first position or a position below it, and the lower guide plate being provided with an opening; an upper slitter-scorer provided with more than two slitting and scoring units, each of the slitting and scoring units being able to enter the opening of the upper guide plate to slit and score the web guided into it by the upper guide plate or to get out thereof; a lower slitter-scorer provided with more than two slitting and scoring units, each of which being able to enter the opening of the lower guide plate to slit and score the web guided into it by the lower guide plate and to get out thereof; and a rear guide plate for receiving the slitted and scored web from the upper guide plate or the lower guide plate and guiding it rearward, front end of the rear guide plate being projected towards the rear end of the lower guide plate or a position below it.
 2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, characterized by that each of the slitting and scoring units of the upper slitter-scorer is secured movably upward and downward to a pair of frames standing at the outsides of the opening of the upper guide plate holding the opening therebetween, and is capable of getting out of the opening of the upper guide plate when moving upward and entering the opening of the upper guide plate to slit and score the web of material when moving downward, while each of the slitting and scoring units of the lower slitter-scorer is secured movably upward and downward to a pair of frames standing at the outsides of the opening of the lower guide plate holding the opening therebetween, and is capable of entering the opening of the lower guide plate to slit and score the web of material when moving upward and getting out of the openings of the lower guide plate when moving downward.
 3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, characterized by that move than two slitting and scoring units of the upper slitter-scorer are attached radially to a pair of rotary frames supported rotatably at the outsides of the opening of the upper guide plate holding the opening therebetween, each of the slitting and scoring units being able to enter the opening of the upper guide plate to slit and score the web of material or get out of the opening by the rotation of the pair of rotary frames, while more than two slitting and scoring units of the lower slitter-scorer are attached radially to a pair of rotary frames supported rotatably at the outsides of the opening of the lower guide plate holding the opening therebetween, each of the slitting and scoring unit being able to enter the opening of the lower guide plate to slit and score the web of material or get out of the opening, by the rotation of the pair of rotary frames.
 4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, comprising an upper roll equipped with cutting blades on the peripheral surface thereof and disposed transversely to the running direction of the web of material; a lower roll provided with a member capable of receiving the thrust (cut-in) of the cutting blades of the upper roll on the peripheral surface thereof, and disposed in parallel with and below the upper roll with a space through which the web of material is able to pass; a means for rotating the upper roll and the lower roll oppositely to each other to cut off the web of material transversely to the running direction thereof at a single stroke by making the cutting blades of the upper roll cut into said member of the lower roll with the web of material held therebetween; and a means for moving upward and downward at least either one of the upper roll and the lower roll.
 5. Apparatus as difined in claim 1, characterized by that the rear guide plate comprises more than two strips of guide plates arranged in parallel with the running direction of the web of material, and a means for moving upward or downward the rear end of each of the strips of the guide plates is provided.
 6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, characterized by that there is provided with a means for moving the slitting and scoring units of the upper slitter-scorer and the slitting and scoring units of the lower slitter-scorer transversely to the running direction of the web of material. 